Vampires and Magic
by VampirePrince4ever
Summary: Harry Potter crossover. Darren is being sent to a school...and guess... which school is it? plz R&R!
1. Prolouge

**Hi everyone this is my first ever fanfic!!! Please R&R. Tell me what you think about it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of the saga of Darren Shan and the Harry Potter series. I wish I do.**

**P.S.: I did a little twist about the story…The Darren Shan bit is set after book 6 and Vancha won't show up until book 7 but I decided to add him here because I like him. And sorry about the ****characters ****being a bit OOC...**

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**Prologue**

"Darren!" I turned around to where the voice came from. Harkat was running towards me, trying to catch me up.

"Hi Harkat! What's the matter?"I stopped and asked.

"Paris wants you in the hall."

"Now?" Oh great. I was just going to see the new species of spider Seba discovered.

"Yes, apparently he said it is urgent."

"Guess Seba will just have to wait. Thanks for telling me though." I said as I headed towards the hall.

* * *

I entered the hall and found Paris, Vancha and Mr. Crepsley sitting around the table, discussing something. I walked over to them. "What's happening?"

"Took you long enough." Vancha said, pretended to be annoyed. "Are you a turtle or something?" I rolled my eyes.

"Just come and sit down first." Mr. Crepsley said. I sat down beside him. "Now,"

"Darren do you believe in Magic?" Vancha suddenly said.

"Huh?" Did he just say…_magic_?

"You are confusing him here." Mr. Crepsley glared at Vancha for interrupting him.

Vancha shrugged. "Well I don't know where to start..."

"Darren, what do you think about attending a school of magic?" Paris asked. _What? _They were making me more confused now. Before I could say anything he began talking.

"Magic and wizards do exist. My friend, who is a wizard, is the headmaster of a magic school called Hogwarts. We have got a situation here. There are rumours about the vampaneze, and we think that they are going to attack the school."

"Why would the vampaneze want to attack a magic school?" I asked unsurely. _Vampaneze? Magic?_ I couldn't see a link between them at all.

"Well you see, same as us, we have our enemies and so do the wizards. Their biggest enemy in threat for them is a dark wizard, called Lord Voldemort. Recently we have found out that the vampaneze and Lord Voldemort have teamed up. We assume the vampaneze is helping Voldemort to attack the school in order to get his help to go against us."

"Is that bad?" I asked.

"Yes. The wizards might not know how to fight physically, but they know how to cast strong and powerful spells which could kill in a second."

"So how's this related to me?"

"The wizard friend that I am talking about, whom name is Albus Dumbledore, sent a letter to us wishing we could help them. Since the rumors about the vampaneze have not been confirmed, we are going to send only you and Larten to the school, reporting back if anything happens. You are going to disguise as a student."

"Why would I have to be a student?"

"Because we don't want them to panic," Mr. Crepsley said. "in the wizard's eyes we are still the mysterious evil blood-sucking creatures. The only person who knows about us is Albus."

"I guess that's true. So what about you Mr. Crepsley?" I asked him.

"I am going to accompany you to the school while I hide in daytime and keep an eye at night."

"Oooo…looks like our little Prince is going to learn some magic!" Vancha said in a mocking tone.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right and I can kick your hairy and smelly arse with magic when I get back."

"Hey my arse is not hairy and smelly!" Vancha retorted. "And how the hell do you know what it looks and smells like?"

"Fine, I am not sure about the hairy bit but the smelly bit is true. Your arse _STINKS_! I can even smell it from here!" I said, giggling.

"Van, he does have a point. You can probably kill someone by sitting on their face or by a fart. It is lethal." Mr. Crepsley said as he and I burst out laughing. Paris had a grin on his face as well.

"So shall I try sitting on your face to see if I could kill you Darren?" Vancha asked, face reddening a bit.

"No thanks." I said, still laughing my head off.

"Well I guess Darren and Larten should go get really then. You two will be leaving today since it takes some time to get there." Paris said.

Me and Mr. Crepsley stopped, got up and headed towards our room to get ready. _Magic?_ This was going to be interesting.

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**I found it quite difficult to write in English since it isn't my native langage…so sorry about if I made any silly mistakes...****Please R&R! I don't mind flames! **


	2. Hogwarts Express

**Here is the second chapter! Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Darren Shan and Harry Potter series.**

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**Hogwarts Express**

It took me and Mr. Crepsley a couple of days to get to the train station mentioned in the letter.

"Ummm… it says that the train which is called Hogwarts Express is at the platform 9¾…" _Wait, 9¾? _I read the letter again. Am I seeing things here? I looked at Mr. Crepsley who was standing beside me for an answer. It was morning now and Mr. Crepsley was not very happy about it. He was hiding in the corners and shades to avoid the daylight.

"Looks like you will have to go in between this pillar." He said as he pointed to a pillar which had the signs, platform 9 on one side and platform 10 on another.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked unsurely. _In the pillar? _

"Yes. It's just some sort of magic," Mr. Crepsley said. I could tell by his tone that he didn't like magic. "Now go on. I will meet you at the school." He said as he passed the luggage to me.

"You're not going on the train?"

"I would rather go by foot. I hate transports. Besides I don't want attention from humans."

"Yeah I guess that's right. You'll probably creep everyone out on the train because of what you wear." I smirked. He was wearing a long red robe which covered up his whole body from head to toe. He was pale, just like every vampire was, and the long scar on his face. Overall, I could only describe him with one word…_ugly._

I looked at the pillar in front of me. _Do I really have to do this?_ "Go on Darren. We have no time to waste." Mr. Crepsley pushed me forward. "Just take a run." I took a deep breath and ran towards the pillar. I closed my eyes when I was in front of it. I didn't feel anything when I went through so I opened my eyes.

It looked just like an ordinary train platform. Except the sign on it said platform 9¾, and the train waiting there was a very long – I mean the word _very. Wow…magic…how cool could this be?_ People were getting on the train. I got on the train, found myself an empty carriage and settled in. I took out a book and started reading. I haven't read a book in ages and this one was just to keep me occupied. I heard the horn of the train. It was about to leave the station.

"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I heard someone shout outside the train so I looked out the window. There were two boys around the age of 15 running towards the train with their luggage, waving as they ran along. One of them had ginger hair and the other one had messy black hair. I watched them until they hopped on the train. I didn't take much notice and concentrated on my book again. A few minutes later there was a knock on my carriage door. It slid open and there stood the two boys who were catching the train.

"Can I help you?" I put my book down.

"Yes…we wondered,' the ginger haired boy said. "If we can join you here since all the carriages are full."

"Sure of course." They stepped in the carriage and sat themselves down, with the ginger haired boy next to me and the black haired one opposite.

"Thanks mate. That helps a lot. What's your name? I am Ron and he is Harry." The ginger haired boy said.

"Darren, Darren Shan." I said as they shook hands with me. I felt kind of weird because it had been ages since I had talked to a normal person – well, they might not be so normal because they know magic, but it was still far normal then vampires.

"So, I've never seen you before, you're new to this school?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"That's kind of weird." Harry suddenly said. I had just noticed that he had a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. _That's kind of cool._ _Did he done that on purpose? _"It's rare that a boy your age is coming to Hogwarts as a new student. It's usually the younger ones that are new… have you learn magic before?"

"Ah…No…I kind of know nothing about magic." I replied.

"So you are a muggle-born?" Ron asked.

"Muggle what?"

"A muggle-born. That means your parents are non-magic." Harry explained.

"Well I guess so…" _wizard language and terms. Damn it._

"I wonder where Hermione is…" Ron said suddenly as he looked out the carriage.

"Hermione?"

"Oh, it's just a girl he fancies which is a very close friend to us." Harry explained.

"I don't fancy her!" Ron exclaimed. "I'm just wondering! And, Besides…who would fancy that…erm…annoying miss-who-knows-everything?"

"Oh so that's what you call me behind my back." A voice suddenly said. We all looked towards where the voice came from. By the carriage door stood an attractive girl with long ash-blonde hair.

"Hermione." Harry said. _So she is Hermione._

"It's not polite to listen to people's conversation…" Ron muttered.

"Well when you were talking behind someone's back you should be quieter. I heard your voice from the end of the corridor!" Hermione said as she sat down beside Harry. Then she spotted me. "Oh sorry about that." She held her hand out to me and I shook it. "My name is Hermione, nice to meet you."

"Mine is Darren, nice to meet you too." I gave her a grin.

"So, what are you guys talking about?" She asked.

"Oh nothing special really, just asking things about Darren." Harry said.

"Want anything from the trolley, sweethearts?" A woman with a trolley full of sweets passed by our carriage.

"Oh yes, can I have some Bertie Botts every flavour beans and some chocolate frogs please." Ron gave the money to the woman.

"All you care about is eating, isn't it?" Hermione mocked him.

"I can do whatever I like, OK?" Ron retorted.

"Well yeah do whatever…but later on please do not ask me for any weight losing potion because I don't have any." She said. Me and Harry giggled at the side.

I watched as Ron opened his package of sweets. As the packet ripped opened, something small hopped out really fast from the packet. I acted on my reflex and caught the thing in my left hand. I opened it slowly to see what it was. It was a frog made of chocolate. And it _moves. _

"Hey where'd it go?" Ron asked.

"Here."

"Wow I didn't see you catch that."

"Oh I just have better reflexes than other people." I said as I passed the frog back to Ron. He took it from me and swallowed it. _Ew. Gross…_guess I will just have to cope with the unusual things in this world of magic.

* * *

The train arrived at the station in about 2 hours later. We took our luggage and hopped off the train. Harry was walking in front of me. A boy came up from behind and bashed into the side of Harry. I could see that he was doing it on purpose.

"Potter! Watch where you are going!" the boy said. He had very light blonde hair. There were two boys following him.

"Leave him alone Malfoy." Ron warned him.

"What're you going to do? Curse me with that terrible skill of your magic?" Malfoy mocked him.

"You…" Ron grew red and took out a stick from his pocket. _What can he do with that little stick?_ Harry stepped in between them. "Calm down Ron, he's not worth it."

Ron hesitated, and put the stick back in to his pocket."Yeah I guess you are right Harry."

"Oh looks like little Potter is scared." Malfoy teased.

"You're just pathetic Malfoy." Harry ignored him. "Let's go guys."

Then Malfoy spotted me. "Hey you're new here? Come on I can show you around. Don't go with them." He was trying to pull me into his little gang.

"No thanks I don't like following people." I refused. I disliked him at the first sight. He looked cocky and I could tell by his tone that he thought he was better than everyone else.

Malfoy glared, "Then watch yourself. Whoever you are."

"Name is Darren. And I don't need you to remind me. I can take care of myself." I said coolly. Malfoy's face grew red. I could tell that he wanted to punch me.

"Alright kids. Get a move on!" someone shouted behind me. I turned around and saw a big, I mean _giant_ man standing there. He had long, thick, messy hair and beard, covering his mouth.

"Watch it." Malfoy gave me one last evil glare and walked away with the two other boys.

"Hi Hagrid." Harry, Ron and Hermione said.

"Hi kids!" He looked at me. "So you're the new boy! I have been expecting you. Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to you before assembly starts." He took my luggage from my hand. "Come with me."

"Well we guess we will see you in the great hall then." Harry said. I gave a small nod to them in respond and followed Hagrid.

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**Plz R&R....thanks:)**


	3. Meeting Dumbledore

**Another chapter!! Hope you are still enjoying it! :)**

**Disclaimer: Nope… I don't own them… Wish I do… [Sit in the corner, depressed]**

**P.S: Sorry... Professer Dumbledore and Mcgonagall are being a bit OOC..**

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**Meeting Dumbledore**

Hagrid led me to a carriage which was pull by nothing. _Ok that was weird_. "Hop on." He said. The carriage set off. It went through mountains and finally stopped after half an hour of bumpy road. _My arse hurts._ "We are here." He jumped off the carriage. I got off as well. There was a massive castle in front of me. Woah…that was a massive castle, the biggest one I had ever seen in books or TV.

"Come on, professor Dumbledore is waiting." Hagrid said as he walked towards the castle. He had big wide foot pace and I had to jog in order to keep up with him. He took me inside the castle and up some stairs. We finally stopped in front of a door.

"Here we are, guess I should leave you here." Hagrid said.

"Thanks." I grinned.

"It's OK boy. Come and visit me in my hut with Harry at anytime!" He said and walked off.

The door opened as I knocked on it. I found an old man standing in front of me. He looked even older than Paris. He had long white beard and wore a pair of round glasses. He was dressed in a bright blue robe and also wearing one of those funny wizard hats I saw in the movies.

"Master SHan! Welcome to Hogwarts! My name is Albus Dumbledore. Nice to meet you. Sorry that I couldn't be there to meet you when the train arrived." He held out his hand to me and I shook it.

"It's ok. Just call me Darren." He sounded like a kind man.

"Thank you for coming to help us out. I heard that your mentor, Master Crepsley is coming with you as well?"

"Yes. He doesn't like taking public transport so he decided to come here by foot. He said he will meet me here."

"Ah I see. Ok then, let us discuss our matter." He waved and a chair came sliding behind me. _That was cool. Wish I could do that._ "Please take a seat." He then went over to the office table and sat behind it. "I presume that you knew recently the vampaneze have teamed up with our enemy Voldemort. We don't know what they are up to now but we heard rumors about them planning to attack Hogwarts."

"That's why Paris sent me here with Mr. Crepsley to keep an eye on things."

"Yes, Paris has informed me that you are going to be a student in Hogwarts just to prevent any students from panicking."

"Yep."

"I am going to place you with the fifth year students to suit your appearance age. I cannot put you with the new students since they are far too young compared to you."

"If you asked us earlier to come to this school I might be well fitted in with them because I have just gone through the 'purge' which I grew from a twelve year old to kind of a sixteen year old in a week."

"It's OK, I am sorry about that you will have to learn harder than the other students since you are new to the whole magic thing. I have got the things you need ready for you." He waved again and a pile of thick books, robes and a stick appeared in front of me on his table. I picked up the stick. It looked like the one Ron took out before.

"What is this for?" I asked.

"It is a wand. We used this to cast magic."

"Cool…all we have in the vampire world are swords, knifes and finger nails…" I said as I waved the wand in my hand. It made a noise and a light came out the opposite end to where I was holding it, then it was gone in a second. I looked at Dumbledore in confusion. _Did I just do that?_

"That means the wand is suitable for you." He grinned. "Oh, I almost forgot. You need blood as well."

"Yes but since I am still a half vampire I will only need a little amount."

"I will provide the blood for you. Here," He reached into his sleeve and took out a little bottle. He passed it to me. It was a bottle of blood. "I think this will keep you going for a few days. I will give you another bottle if you need more."

"Thank you." I put the bottle in my pocket. I wondered where that blood had come from. _Better not ask._

"I don't suggest you feeding on the students but if, it's an emergency you can." _Wow. That's nice of him. I can feed on his students!_

"Thanks, I will try not to though."

"I will transfer the books and other stuff in your room. I guess you should put the robe on. The sorting ceremony will start soon."

"Sorting ceremony?" I asked as I put the robe on.

"Yes, we have four houses here in Hogwarts and at the start of each year we have a sorting ceremony which new students will be sorted into the houses. Since you are new you will have to attend the sorting ceremony as well. You will need to wait by the entrance hall until the older students are all seated in the great hall. I will take you there." He said as he opened the door for me and I followed him out. He took me into a little chamber which was full of kids.

"I will see you in the ceremony." He said then walked away.

* * *

I stood by the corner of the chamber to avoid any attention. A while later, a woman with a witch hat walked in. "Alright everyone! Settle down! I am Professor Mcgonagall and I will take you into the great hall, where the ceremony will be held. Now, get into pairs and line up in front of me." The kids quickly lined up and followed her. I was at the very back since I was the tallest. As we walked through the massive door of the great hall, I was stunned by what I saw. It was as big as the hall in Vampire Mountain, which could easily hold hundreds of people. It had tall walls that reached up to the ceiling. And that wasn't just it. The real thing that amazed me was the ceiling…well I shouldn't call it the 'ceiling' since I could see the sky. Stars were shining. _Magic!_

We walked towards the front of the hall, where there was a long table and Dumbledore sat in the middle. As we walked along, I heard people whispering: "What's he doing there?", "Isn't he too old to be a new student?"…I sighed and ignored the comments. "He's kind of good looking…" I smirked when I heard that.

I saw Harry, Ron and Hermione sat at one of the tables and they waved at me. I smiled at them. We stopped at the front of the hall. Dumbledore started speaking about rules and stuff about the school but I didn't really listen to him, since I was too busying looking around the hall.

"Now let the sorting ceremony begin." Then a voice started singing. I looked over where the voice was from. It was a hat. _Yes. A hat. I wasn't dreaming. _It laid on a stool in front of the staff table. After the song the kids were being called up one by one. Professor Mcgonagall placed the hat on each kid's head and the hat shouted the house name the kids would belong to. _So that was how they sort houses out._ After a while, every kid was sorted and seated. I was the last.

"Darren, Shan!"_Finally. _I walked up and sat on the stool. Everyone was staring at me like I was some kind of a freak. Well I had already got used to this since I had performed in the Cirque as a freak for six years. Professor Mcgonagall placed the hat on me.

"_Ummm…_" I was shocked when a voice rang out in my head. _"Don't worry, relax…"_ I found out that it was the hat. _"A vampire, huh?" _It knew? I started to panic. "_Calm down. No one will hear me…you are the first ever vampire in Hogwarts….now this is tricky. A natural leader…very resourceful….could be well fitted in Slytherin…but…" _It mused.

"Oh for god sake will you be a bit quicker? Everyone is staring!" I hissed. _Does he need to talk that much?_ I was annoyed with the hat.

"_Be patient…" _I rolled my eyes. _Here it goes again. "You don't have the ambition in you for a Slytherin…but you have nerves. Since you have the courage to fight against the dark…let's say…_**GRYFFINDOR!**" The hat bellowed. _Took it long enough. _

I walked towards the Gryffindor Table. I saw Harry waving at me so I walked over and sat down next to him. Hermione and Ron were sitting opposite me. Some people from the table shook my hand and greeted me. _People here do love shaking hands._

"Welcome to Gryffindor Darren." Harry said, smiling to me. I smiled back.

"Let us begin our feast!" Dumbledore announced. He clapped and food appeared on the table in front of me.

"Wow that was cool…" I couldn't stop myself saying that out loud.

Harry chuckled. "This is the reaction everyone gets when they first come." I was not really hungry but I still ate some of the food just in case I got hungry later on. The food was delicious. Way better than the bat broth and the rock hard bread in vampire mountain.

After the feast I followed the Gryffindor crowd to the boys' dormitory. I was fascinated on the way. There were mvoing and talking paintings everywhere, the staircases moved, and i could see ghost wondering around!

I lay on my bed in the dormitory after sorting my things out. I hadn't slept on a bed for years. All I have in the vampire mountain was the small hammock in my room. I sighed contently and fell quickly into a deep sleep.

* * *

**[UNKNOWN PERSON'S POV]**

I followed everyone to greet the boy and shook hands with him at the Gryffindor table. When I touched his hand, I froze. He had a scar on the tip of each of his fingers. He was a _vampire_. I had to tell my master about this.

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**Sorry about the short ending… I don't know what more can I write.**

**I know this is not a very good story but still, thanks for reading! Please R&R….reviews keep me going ****:):)**** Tell me if you like it or not…**


	4. New experiences

**P.S: Did another twist here…The Harry Potter bit is set after book 4 but Remus Lupin is still teaching.**

**I have to say thanks to my friend, **_**waterbender16**_**. She helped me with my story and gave me ideas! Go and check out her stories!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. They are still not mine *cries*.**

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**New Experiences**

I was woken by the sunlight shinning through the windows of the boys dormitory. I sat up and found Harry stood by Ron's bed, trying to wake him up. He looked up and saw me getting out of bed.

"Morning Darren! I was just going to wake you up after him." He turned to Ron again and shook him but he just moaned and fell back to sleep.

"Morning, do you need any help here?" I asked.

"Nah, kicking him usually does the trick." He said as he swung his foot into Ron's stomach.

"Owch! What was that for?" Ron yelled and woke up instantly.

"For waking you up obviously. Time for breakkie." I laughed at the two of them. We got changed quickly and went down to the Great Hall. We found Hermione there and joined her.

"Took you guys long enough. You will have to hurry; lesson starts in 20 minute's time." She said so we ate quickly and went for our lessons.

"What is our first lesson?" I asked Harry as we walked down the corridor.

"It's DADA." He answered.

"DADA?"

"Oh it was the shortening for defense against the dark arts. You will see when we get there."

* * *

"Hi class how was your holiday? Mine was brilliant. So, today we are going to recap the spell 'Riddikulus' since I presume you might forget over the holiday." The teacher said. He was in his mid thirties and looked just like an ordinary teacher. No wizards hat, no robes. He spotted me.

"Huh I see you are new here…I am professor Lupin. Your name?" He asked.

"Darren, sir."

"Since you are new you can be the first one who faces the boggart. Come over here. Now everybody gather around!"

Lupin told me briefly what I had to do. He then told me to stand in front of the closet with my wand. I was nervous. Lupin cast a spell on the closet and the door swung open. Something popped out and started to transform in front of me. I held my wand tighter. My eyes widened when I saw what it had transformed into. It was Mr. Tiny. He was holding his heart shape watch grinning at me evily. I heard some giggles in the crowd, behind me.

"Scared of your grandfather there?" A voice shouted and I reckoned it was Malfoy. I ignored him. I concentrated and shouted. "Riddikulus!" A flash came out from my want and the heart shape watch which Mr. Tiny was holding transformed slowly into a giant spider. It was a bigger version of Madame Octa. It grew bigger and swallowed Mr. Tiny in a second. I smirked. It would be fun if it really happens in the actual world. I reached out wanting to touch it but I remembered that everyone was watching so I quickly retracted my hand. I looked around the crowd. Everyone was muttering and staring at me in disbelief; "who would like spiders?"

"Bloody hell. I think I've just shit my pants…" I heard Ron mutter and I stifled a smirk. The lesson ended with everyone practicing the spell.

* * *

It was lunchtime now and me, Harry, Ron and Hermione were having lunch together.

"Darren do you know how to fly on a broom stick?" Ron asked while stuffing his mouth with bread.

"Flying? On a broom stick?" I raised an eye bow.

"Guess not then from your reaction. Oh yeah Harry! You can teach Darren how to fly on a broom stick after lunch!"

"Oh that's a good idea, Darren do you want to?" Harry asked.

"Yes of course!" I had always wanted to fly on a broom stick ever since I was little. After lunch we went to the courtyard. Harry lent his broom stick to me.

"So first thing to do is…" Harry thought for a moment. "Oh yes, place your hand on top of the broom stick and say 'up'."

"Up." I said as the broom stick went up into my hand. "Woah."

"Wow it took me about 100 times to get the bloody thing into my hand! How'd you do it?" Ron exclaimed at the side of me.

"Because he is smarter than you, idiot." Hermione retorted at my other side.

"Now put that in between your legs."Harry continued. I did what I was told. I started floating upwards with the broom stick. I panicked.

"Now try and balance yourself!" Harry yelled from below. It went floating for 3 or 4 stories high and stopped. I balanced myself, making sure I was steady on the broom stick. You see, one good thing about being a vampire is that you have a better balance than humans. Making sure I wouldn't fall off, I leaned forward, trying to make it go forward and left and right. I soon got the hang of it and started to fly around slowly. I got faster and faster and went every where around Hogwarts. _I can fly! Vampire in the sky! _"Weeeeeeheeeee!" I shouted. I was enjoying myself. After a while I went back down the courtyard since I didn't want Harry and the others to wait for me for a long amount of time.

"Wow you are amazing at flying! You should be in the Quidditch team." Ron said in amazement.

"Quidditch?" I asked as I passed the broom stick back to Harry.

"Oh it's a ball game we play on broom sticks. There's a Quidditch tryout after school…do you want to go?" Harry asked. Sure I wanted to go but I remembered that I was not here to enjoy myself.

"Sorry….I'm not really interested."

"It's ok, lessons start in a minute, we better go!"

* * *

The next lesson was care about magical creatures with Hagrid. I recognized he was the giant man that took me to Dumbledore yesterday.

"Today we're going to learn about a species of spider called 'Hornsprog'."

Hagrid took out a cage covered with a piece of cloth. He took the cloth off and inside the cage laid a spider. It was green and had yellow spots on it. The weirdest thing about it was that it had small horns sticking out all over its body. Seba would sure want to have a look at it.

"They can only be found in the dark forest. They are extremely intelligent and can control people's mind for 5 minutes by biting them."

"What will happen after 5 minutes?" Hermione asked.

"They will die instantly. No antidote has been researched to cure the effects of the poison yet." Hagrid said. "Now everyone gather in a circle so I can let you have a better look."

He took the cage and walked along us, letting us take a closer look at it. When he was in front of Ron, some stupid boys behind him were messing about and a boy was being pushed out of the circle. He bashed into Hagrid and he lost his grip on the cage and it hit the floor heavily. The cage door opened and the spider crawled out. Everyone screamed and moved back. Only Ron stood still because the spider crawled on his shoe and up his body.

"Oh my…" Ron started trembling and fell backwards onto the floor. At that moment we all thought that he had been bitten but afterwards we realized that he had just fainted because of terror. The spider crawled off him. Everyone near Ron screamed again, pushing each other in order to get further away from the spider. But one unlucky girl that was being pushed and fell onto her hands and knees in front of the spider. It jumped onto her shoulder immediately, and crawled beside her neck.

"Don't move!" Hagrid shouted. I could tell by the spider's movement that it was going to bite her. _There was no time, I had to do something. _I ran towards the girl and passed Hagrid. "What the…." Hagrid shouted but I ignored him. I stopped in front of the girl and started whistling. I used a flute to control Madame Octa in the cirque, but since I didn't have one now, I just had to whistle.

"_Hi beauty..." _I said in my mind, continuing my whistling. The Spider stopped and looked at me. _It is working._ _"Come over here…don't be frightened…I won't hurt you…"_ I kept whistling and I reached my hand out to it slowly. It hesitated for a moment, but slowly, it jumped on my hand, up my arm and settled on my shoulder. _"Good…you are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen…" _I picked the cage up from the floor and let the spider in. I closed the cage door and I stopped whistling. I looked around and found everyone was gazing at me in complete astonishment. I ignored the gazes, walked over to Hagrid and passed the cage over to him.

"How…"

"I got a special way for spiders." I cut in before he could ask.

"You are full of mystery Darren." Harry said as I rejoined the crowd. I just shrugged.

"Let our lesson end here…I need to take Ron to the hospital wing." Hagrid announced.

* * *

The day went by quickly and me, Harry and the others were having our dinner in the Great Hall.

"Was that true, I mean did you really, make the spider get back in the cage when I fainted?" I nodded in respond.

"How'd you do that?"

"My friend, who performed in a circus with spiders, taught me it." _That will explain everything. _As we were eating, someone tapped me on my shoulder and I turned around. I recognized it was the girl from the 'spider incident' today.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Er…em…I just want to say thank you for what happen today…you saved my life."

"Oh that's nothing. I was just doing what I could do. Oh, by the way…what's your name?"

"Arlene."

"Mine is Darren…I think you probably know that already. Nice to know you anyway." I shook hands with her. She blushed.

"Well I should probably go now…see you Darren." She walked away quickly, face still blushing.

"Looks like Darren has a fan already on his first day at school…" Ron teased at my side. I just shrugged and went back to eat my food.

After dinner I found Dumbledore waiting for me at the entrance of the Great Hall. "May I have a word with you Darren?" I nodded and followed him to his office. I found Mr. Crepsley in there.

"Took you long enough to get here, have a nice trip by foot?" I teased.

"How is your first day at Hogwarts then Darren?" Mr. Crepsley asked, ignoring my teasing.

"Fun! There was lots of new stuff that I never seen before! I learnt about a spider…"

Mr. Crepsley cut in. "I am not asking you about that you idiot. I am asking you about anything or anyone you found strange in the school."

"Oh…No…" I muttered, my mood dropping.

"I guess Darren should go back to the Dormitory now. It's getting quite late. I have provided a coffin in the dungeon for you Mr. Crepsley. I will show you the way." Dumbledore said.

"Ok then…" I said as I walked towards the door.

"Darren!" Mr. Crepsley shouted as I opened the door.

"What." I turned around, sounding annoyed.

"Remember we are not here to mess about! Keep an eye on everything, and be alert at all times!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah sure whatever." I walked out the door and slammed it shut behind me._ Does he ever know how to enjoy himself here? Chill out, old man!_

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**Review to tell me if you like it or not :)…and reviews also keep me going! **

**The next update will probably be a little bit later since my holiday has ended…school again :(**


	5. A bad day

**Thanks for the people who review my story…gives me more confidence to continue :) Please R&R! **

**Thanks _waterbender16 _for helping me with this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to say it again? *Sighs* ...here we go…..........I DO NOT OWN THEMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy?**

* * *

**A bad day**

A week had passed since my first day in Hogwarts. The lessons in this school were both interesting and exciting. I had learnt lots of new things which I had never come across before. Me, Mr. Crepsley and Dumbledore met in the courtyard every night in order to report what I had seen and done.

The first lesson today was Hagrid's lesson. We all sat on the ground in a circle around him.

"We're going to learn about vampires today." I smirked when I heard that. _A vampire learns about vampires. Weird. Let's see what they think we are._

"I don't have the actual thing to show you but there is a picture of a vampire on p.47 in your textbook." My eyes widened when I saw the picture in my textbook. It was a painting of Mr. Crepsley, holding Madame Octa on his hand. I nearly burst out laughing. _Guess Mr. Crepsley is kind of popular._

"So," Hagrid started talking. "Vampires…they're cunning and disgraceful night creatures." I got a bit angry when hearing the word 'disgraceful'. I guessed I would have to put up with it though. No one except Dumbledore knew what vampires really were in Hogwarts. I kept on listening.

"They burnt under sunlight. They drain every single drop of blood from their prey," _That's not true! _Hagrid continued. "They're blood sucking monsters with no self-control." _What? He sure has something against vampires._ I held my fist tight, trying not to explode. "Overall you can just say they're mindless beasts." I couldn't stand it anymore.

"They are not mindless!" I burst out. Everybody in class turned to me immediately.

"Sorry Darren? What'd you say?" Hagrid asked.

"How do you know about them? Have you ever seen one before?" I asked, trying not to show my temper.

"The textbook tells you all about them! I've never seen one before, and I will never want to."

"Vampires won't drain blood from people. They just take a little amount. Only the vampaneze drain blood!" I retorted agitatedly, standing up.

"Where'd you hear about that Darren? And what the heck is…'vampaneze'?" Hagrid asked, confused.

"Because I…" I stopped. I forgot everyone was listening. That was close. I sighed and calmed myself down. "Because I've read it in another book before…" I tried to make up an excuse.

"Well I think you should make sure the source is reliable before you read it. Now sit back down." I sat down, burying my face in my textbook. _Damn. _Now everyone would think I was a weirdo. I didn't listen to Hagrid for the rest of the lesson since I didn't want to hear any more of his ridiculous assumptions.

* * *

After lunch me, Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the courtyard, chilling out. They were chatting but I just listened, not bothering to join in since I was still in the bad mood about what Hagrid said about vampires.

"Potter…and his new weird friend." A voice rang out and we all turned around. It was Malfoy with his two followers.

"Shut it Malfoy. Can't you see no one wants you here? Go away." Ron said but he ignored him. He turned to me instead.

"I can now see why you are friends with Potter…coz you're weird as well, freaky-Spider-Control-Boy." He teased and the other two boys laughed. "You got mad because Hagrid was saying things about vampires…"

I glared at him. "Oh let's see if he gets mad about this…" He said to his two followers and then back to me again. "Vampires are stupid."

"Don't be so immature Malfoy." Harry said by my side. Malfoy ignored him and continued.

"They have no brains and they won't come out in sunlight because they think they are too ugly to show people their faces!" _That's it. I have had enough. _I grabbed his collar with my right hand and pulled him closer towards me. We were no more than five centimetres to each other.

"_Never_, and I mean _never, _insult vampires in front of me." I whispered in his ear, in a tone that no one else could hear, and then locked eyes with him. "You hear me?" I said in my normal tone again and he flinched. I guessed it was the killing look which I was giving him.

"Goyle, Crabbe, do something!" He panicked and yelled. His two followers ran towards me, one on my left side and the other on my right, attempting to punch me. I acted instantly and pushed Malfoy towards the boy on my right. They landed on the ground, one on top of each other. The boy on my left side was still attempting to punch me. I dodged and stuck out a foot. He tripped on it and fell. I walked towards Malfoy which was slowly getting back up.

"Don't you dare come near me you filthy little low life!" He warned as he took out his wand from his robe. I ignored his warning, and snatched the wand off his hand with vampire speed that human eyes could hardly catch. He stared at me in horror when he realized that the wand was gone from his hand.

"Give me that back!" he yelled.

"Say please." I said coolly. He didn't. Instead he threw himself at me, trying to snatch the wand from my hand. I simply stepped aside. He lost his balance and went crashing onto the ground.

"I guess you don't want it then." I held the wand over my head in a javelining position and threw it as hard as I could towards the castle top. It went flying over the castle and disappeared from sight. Malfoy was now in a sitting position, staring at me in disbelief. His chin was bruised and his face was covered in mud. His eyes were full of both terror and hatred. I smirked. Watching him like that sure made me felt better.

"Let's go. Lessons start in five minute." I turned back to my friends and said. They were staring at me as well.

"How'd you…" Ron wanted to speak but Hermione stopped him. "Yeah let's go." We went, leaving everyone in the courtyard confused and amazed.

* * *

The next lesson was potions. It was taught by a weird looking teacher called Snape, he was dressed in black from head to toe, his long shoulder length black hair merging with the colour of his robes.

"We are going to make a potion which can make animals transform into human form. The ingredients are as follow: ginger roots, bat wings, Ashwinder eggs and human blood. Follow P.106 in the textbook." We got the ingredients on the front desk and started to make the potion individually.

After I had made the potion I looked around the room. I was the first one to finish. I noticed there was still blood remaining in the bottle I used. I remembered that I hadn't had any in a few days' time. I held the bottle up and looked around again. _No one was watching…_I held it closer to my lips.

"Master Shan, what do you think you're doing?" A voice bellowed causing me to drop the bottle immediately. It landed on the floor and smashed completely, the red liquid spilling all over the floor, and onto my shoes. It was Snape. _Shit. _

"Did you just intend to drink that?" he asked sternly, looking at me right in my eyes. I felt guilty and diverted from his gaze.

"Er…no…I was just smelling it." He stared at me, eyes glinting with disbelieve.

"Well I better not find you doing it again, now clear the mess up." He said as he walked away. Everybody in class was watching me as I picked up the pieces of the bottle and cleared the blood away.

"Get back to your work!" Snape shouted and everyone concentrated back onto their potions. I sighed. _Guess it isn't my day today._

* * *

**[NOT DARREN'S POV]**

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting together in the common room, chatting. Darren went back to the boys' dormitory first because he said he wasn't feeling very well.

"There's something strange about Darren…" Hermione said suddenly.

"You mean the fact that he can control spiders?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but it was not just that…you see, he went mad when he heard what Hagrid and Malfoy said about vampires, and couldn't you see how fast he snatched that wand from Malfoy?" she paused for a second and continued. "I suspect that he is a vampire."

"Oh don't be silly Hermione; have you ever seen him drinking any blood?" Harry said.

"No but I am sure he didn't just want to smell the blood in potions today! I could tell he was going to drink it, which was until Snape stopped him!" Hermione retorted.

"Yeah but at the end, you didn't see him drinking it. By the way, vampires burnt under sunlight! How can he be a vampire?"

"Actually I kind of agree with Hermione," Ron interrupted. Harry and Hermione looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "You know, I see him sneaking out from the dormitory every night at midnight and I'm sure he wasn't going to the toilet since he wouldn't come back for at least half an hour."

"I bet he is out for someone's blood!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Well if you two guys are really that suspicious about him being a vampire there is only one way to find out." Harry said.

"What is it?" Ron and Hermione both said.

"Follow him to see what he is up to at night."

"How though? If he really is a vampire, surely he'll be able to hear us following him, or at least sense us." Ron asked.

Harry grinned. "The invisible cloak." Ron and Hermione grinned as well.

* * *

**[Unknown Person's POV]**

That smelly half-vampire hadn't done anything special during the week but, today he nearly revealed himself in Hagrid's lesson…I was stunned when he said the word 'vampaneze' …He must be here because what my master and his clan plan to do. He knew and he was here to help. He nearly drank that blood in front of everybody in Potion class but that stupid Snape stopped him! I Wish everyone finds out he was a vampire. What would they do? Burn him to death or something? That would be fun, watching them cheer as his body burnt. Anyway my master told me to try to get closer to him in order to gain his trust and keep an eye on him, so I guess that would be my priority from now on.

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**Here is another chapter for you guys…:)**

**Will anyone be kind enough to review, telling me if it is good or bad? Just one little message. It motivates me as well! Thanks :):)**


	6. Discoveries

**Here is another chapter…enjoy:) Thanks for people who review my last chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Do not own them…**

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**Discoveries**

**[NOT DARREN'S POV]**

Harry, Ron and Hermione sneaked out from their dormitory after curfew and met in the common room. They hid under Harry's invisible cloak together, and waited in the corner of the room. They waited there for a long time and started to get impatient.

"Are you sure about this Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Of course I am sure! I bet he will come out at any minute now." Ron said.

"I don't want to wait here for the whole night! I'm getting tired…" Hermione said as she yawned.

"Well it is you that thinks he's a vampire, and you who wanted to stalk him…" Ron stated.

"Sssh! I heard something!" Harry said. Ron shut up instantly. The door to the boys' dormitory clicked open and a figure came out. It was Darren. They followed him quietly.

Darren walked in a fast pace. He kept looking around as he walked down the corridor. He stopped in the courtyard. A man was standing there waiting. Harry could see the man's appearance due to the moonlight. He was dressed in a long red cloak and had orange hair.

"Dumble…later…" They couldn't hear their conversation clearly so they walked closer, but still keeping a distance from them. Darren had his back towards them. Harry could now see the man's face more clearly. He had a long ugly scar on one side of his face. He thought he looked kind of familiar.

"So, anything usual today?" the orange haired man asked.

"Nothing really…I just had a bad day that's all…" Darren said.

The man raised an eyebrow. "How bad?"

"Well I was in Hagrid's lesson …" Darren paused for a moment. He didn't want to talk about the incident today. He changed the subject. "Oh yes, I almost forgot! I saw you in my text book!"

_Text book?_ Harry thought back in Hagrid's lesson_. What was in the text book? Vampires. Yes. The man was the vampire shown in the text book! No wonder he looked so familiar. So Darren knew a vampire, but was he one of them? _He turned and looked at Hermione and Ron. He could see they noticed as well by looking at the expressions they had plastered on their faces. He could see that Ron wanted to scream but Hermione stopped him by putting her hand over Ron's mouth. They kept on listening.

"Yeah, I was active for a while in the human world about 60 years ago. Anyway, have you been feeding yet?" The man asked.

"No…that's why I nearly drank the blood in Potion class…" Darren said.

"What? Did anyone see you?" the man exclaimed.

"Not really, I didn't really drink it…It was just a 'nearly'."

"Darren, you should be careful at all times. If people found out you are a vampire they will panic, and who knows what else…" _So Darren really is a vampire! _Harry was shocked. Ron let out a small whimper due to his terror and disbelief at what he had just discovered.

"Who is there?" The man snapped, turning his head at where Harry and the others were stood. He walked towards them. Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't dare to move. They just hoped that he won't walk closer. Unfortunately, he bumped into them. He stopped, staring at the empty ground in front of him, looking confused. He reached out.

"Run!" Harry shouted suddenly, throwing the invisible cloak over the man, then grabbed Ron and Hermione and started running back into the castle dragging them behind him.

They ran through the corridor. Harry turned back to check if Ron and Hermione were keeping up with him. He bumped into someone. It was Snape.

"What the heck are you doing here at this time of night, Master Potter?"

"V…v…va..vam…pir…pires!" Harry gasped. He was panting heavily.

"What?" Snape asked in confusion.

Harry tried to retrieve his breath. "V…Vampires."

"I am having no such joke Master Potter. Now…" Snape stopped as he saw an orange haired man appear at the far end of the corridor.

"Who are you?" Snape asked warily.

"He is a vampire! We saw a painting of him in out text book!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Vampire? Him?" he asked unsurely, turning towards the man. The man walked towards them.

"Do not move." He warned as he took out his wand.

The man snorted. "Magic again. That's all you wizards rely on isn't it? … magic" He ignored Snape's warning and stepped forward.

"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A voice shouted from the end of the corridor.

* * *

**[BACK IN DARREN'S POV]**

I was sneaking out from the dormitory as usual at midnight. When I walked down the corridor, I had a strange feeling that someone was watching me so I kept looking around but I found nothing. _Guess I was just over sensitive. _I arrived at the courtyard but I only saw Mr. Crepsley standing there.

"Where is Dumbledore?" I asked as I walked towards him.

"Albus is going to be a bit late. He said he had some paper work to finish off or something like that." Mr. Crepsley merely replied.

I told Mr. Crepsley what I had done as usual.I talked about Hagrid's lesson but I only mentioned about seeing Mr. Crepsley in my textbook. When I got to the potion bit, Mr. Crepsley started his little talk about me being more careful, such and such, blah blah blah… I rolled my eyes.

Suddenly something let out a small whimper. I was sure that it was a whimper, but it didn't sound like it came from any type of animal, or the wind, it sounded like … human. Mr. Crepsley noticed as well. He snapped but no one answered. He walked towards where the whimper came from. I stood still and watched. Mr. Crepsley was walking with his back facing me so I couldn't see what was in front of him. He suddenly stopped just like he had bumped into something.

"Run!" someone shouted and Mr. Crepsley disappeared suddenly, in front of my eyes. Three figures ran away from Mr. Crepsley and into the entrance of the castle. I ran over to where Mr. Crepsley disappeared.

"Mr. Crepsley?" I said unsurely.

"I'm here." Mr. Crepsley appeared suddenly by my side. He had a cloak in his hands.

"Damn it. We have been stalked by someone using this freaking magic thing. I have to chase them." He said as he tossed the cloak to me. "You wait here." He then flitted off into the entrance of the castle.

I stood there, confused by what just happened. Who was that? Three figures… the voice that shouted 'Run'… it sounded so familiar… Oh god_. _It was Harry, Ron and Hermione. I needed to tell Mr. Crepsley not to hurt them. I rushed though the corridor running as fast as I could. I could see Mr. Crepsley standing at the far end of corridor. _He was standing still which means he had caught up with Harry._

"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I shouted as I ran closer to him. I froze when I saw who was there.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing behind a man, staring at me in horror. I reckoned the man was Snape. He had his wand out in his hand. _Shit. _Harry, Ron and Hermione knew what I was and now Snape.

"What are you doing here, Master Shan?" Snape asked.

"He's with him! A vampire as well!" Ron exclaimed before I could answer. Snape pointed his wand towards Mr. Crepsley. Mr. Crepsley snorted and walked towards them. I was now behind Mr. Crepsley.

"Stay where you are!" Snape warned. Mr. Crepsley ignored him and kept moving forward.

"_Stupefy!_" Snape shouted suddenly and a flash came out from his wand, lashing towards Mr. Crepsley. He dodged in an inhuman speed. The flash hit me instead and sent me flying backwards. I hit the ground harshly, banging my head on the floor. My head was now swirling in turmoil. Just as I sat up slowly Snape shouted another spell.

"_Levicorpus!_" I felt something grabbed my ankle and a second later everything around me was turning upside down. I noticed I was now dangling upside down with my arm swinging helplessly downwards in midair. I wanted to struggle but I didn't have the strength since I was still hurt from the attack Snape gave me before.

Mr. Crepsley sighed at the side. "Oh Darren you stupid..." He moved suddenly, again with inhuman speed, behind Snape. He passed his finger nails against Snape's neck. "Put the wand down." He demanded.

Snape spun his head round, starring at Mr. Crepsley in disbelief. "How…"

Blood was now rushing up (or down?) my head quickly. I was blacking out but suddenly someone shouted, making me open my eyes again.

"Stop!" it was Dumbledore. He was behind Mr. Crepsley and the others. He hurried over. "Professor Snape, please put down your wand and let Darren go. He is falling unconscious." Everyone turned and look at me. I felt like an idiot.

Snape hesitated for a moment, and slowly put down his wand. I hit the floor harshly again. _Ouch!_ Slowly, I sat up, supporting myself with one arm. I was still unable to get up due to the dizziness.

"Master Crepsley can you release Professor Snape as well please?" Dumbledore said to Mr. Crepsley. Mr. Crepsley took away his hand on Snape's neck and backed away. He walked over to me, helping me to get up. I managed to get on my feet but they were unsteady so I leaned on Mr. Crepsley's shoulder in order to support myself. Everyone was looking at Dumbledore now.

"I believe we have some explaining to do." He said. "May I please ask everyone to come to my office."

Snape, me and Mr. Crepsley headed off to his office. Harry and the others didn't move since they were still in shock from what just happened. Dumbledore turned to them. "I believe you three should come as well."

* * *

We were in Dumbledore's office and Snape, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting on chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk and I and Mr. Crepsley were leaning against the wall. I wanted to sit down as well but all the chairs were taken.

"Now can you please explain what is actually happening?" Snape asked.

"Well…" Dumbledore started explaining. Mr. Crepsley crossed his arms in front of him and rolled his eyes, not bothering to listen. I was rubbing the lump on my head where I had just hit the floor.

Dumbledore told them all about the vampires and vampaneze. I watched their face, especially Snape's, turning from confused, to surprise, then disbelief. There was a moment of silence after Dumbledore stopped speaking.

"So you are saying that we have to team up with the vampires to defend ourselves from Voldemort and the vampa…whatever it's called?" Snape asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Apparently yes." Dumbledore answered.

Snape turned and looked at me and Mr. Crepsley in disgust. "I do not agree with this. Why do we have to work with these disgraceful night creatures?"

"Put up with it! _Big nose._"Mr. Crepsley snapped. "We don't want to be in this situation anymore than you do, and if it wasn't Paris's request, I wasn't even bothered to come. You should really thank us for that." Snape glared at Mr. Crepsley.

"I am sorry, Professor Snape," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort and the vampaneze have teamed up and we have no idea what they are going or planning to do. We need Master Crepsley and Darren here for backups."

"Fine. I will not deny your decision Professor but I won't admit these vampires as our allies." Snape said as he stood up. "I am going now." He said as he walked out from Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "I know it is hard for you to accept this but please do not tell anyone about it." They nodded slowly in response. "Now go to bed. It is getting quite late." They nodded again and walked out slowly.

"Darren you should go with them as well." I nodded and followed them out the door.

No one talked on the way back to the dormitory. They kept a great deal of distance between us.

"Guys…" I said, keeping up with them. They ignored me. "I'm so sorry…"

"Hagrid is right. Vampires are cunning. He never tells us anything." Ron murmured to himself but in a louder voice, so I was able to hear it.

"I didn't tell you because…"

"You don't have to explain." Ron snapped. "We're not even your true friends, are we? We might just be bags of blood in your point of view."

"No! I…" I tried to retort but he interrupted again.

"You might have already drunk our blood without us noticing!" That pushed me to my limit. Why is everyone going against me today? First Hagrid, second Malfoy, third Snape…and now them?

"YOU BLAME ME FOR NOT TELLING YOU, BUT WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO SAY?

_HI I AM DARREN AND I AM A VAMPIRE BUT DON'T BE SCARED BECAUSE I WON'T DRAIN YOUR BLOOD? _

AND DO YOU THINK I REALLY ENJOY DRINKING BLOOD? I HAVE TO DRINK IT IN ORDER TO KEEP MY LIFE GOING! AND, I HAVE NEVER DRUNK YOUR BLOOD BEFORE AND I WILL NEVER WANT TO BECAUSE I…I TREAT YOU GUYS AS MY FRIENDS!_" _

I roared in front of them. I was panting after that sentence. Tears were building up in my eyes. I gulped and bit my lip, trying to stop the tears coming out.

I looked at them. They were now shocked with their mouths half-opened. _Damn, I have just made that worse, haven't I?_ I turned away, wiping the tears in my eyes with my sleeve as I ran back to the dormitory without looking back.

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**Spent ages on this chapter…please R&R! :)**

**I had such a stressful week… just done my mechanic exam and I probably will fail it… :( **

**There is a forum for people to discuss their fan work or fan art! -------- fanbbs . net**


	7. Searching in the mist

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait… been caught up in school work recently, but I have finished all my assessment exams now (Yey!) So here you go, the next chapter, enjoy! :)**

**And just one more thing I want to say before you read on…**

_*******IT IS MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!*******_

**I can finally start my driving lessons!!!! WeeeeHeeeeee!!!!!!! (Sorry, I know it has nothing to do with the story, but I just feel like saying it out loud :P) **

**Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own them… but since it is my birthday today, will anyone kind enough to get me them for my birthday present? Pretty please? (Begged with puppy eyes)**

**P.S: The girl that Darren saved before... I changed her name from 'Vianna' to 'Arlene' coz I am not really satisfied with the name 'Vianna'. Sorry about the confusion :P**

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**Searching in the mist…**

My head hurt like hell when I got up the next morning. The lump was still there. I looked around the dormitory and Harry and Ron were not there. Guess they didn't want to wait for me anyway. I got dressed quickly and went down the hall by myself. Harry was sitting on one of the tables with the others. I walked passed them, trying not to look, and found myself an empty table and sat down, eating silently. Then someone sat down opposite me.

"Care if I join?" I looked up and found Arlene, the girl I saved from the spider incident.

"No, just sit anywhere you want." I said simply and got back to my food.

"Why are you not sitting with them?" Arlene asked, jerking her head in Harry's direction.

"…I had a little fall out with them yesterday." I replied. _Yeah, they discovered that I'm a vampire and they're scared that I will suck their blood so we fell out…_

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It is OK."

"You know, you can hang out with me for today if you want." She said, sitting down.

"Thanks…" Then I continued eating. We didn't speak much because:

1. I was looking down on my food all the time 2. I just wasn't in the mood to chat.

I finished and looked up. She was staring at me curiously.

"Have you finished?" I asked.

"Oh yes. I am just waiting for you."

"Er… thanks…"

"Well we should get going then… the first lesson is transfiguration, right?" she asked.

"Er…yes."

* * *

After morning lessons Arlene went with me to the great hall to have our lunch. I found myself more talkative with her now. We talked about a lot of things while we were having lunch. My bad mood from yesterday was fading away. After eating, we remained seated and chatted for a bit. I looked more closely at Arlene, who was talking beside me. Wow, I just found out that she was quite pretty…

"Darren? Are you listening?" Her voice jerked me out of my trance.

"Er… Yeah?" I found her looking straight at me with her beautiful green eyes.

"You know…" She shifted closer to me. I blushed.

"Yeah?"

"You are quite a good looking guy…" She said, leaning towards me.

"I beg your pardon?" I was a little bit taken back by what she said.

"I mean… I like you…." She said as she leaned closer to me, closing her eyes, until her lips were no more than 5 centimetres between mine. _Is…is she trying to kiss me? _I stared at her lips. They were a little plump, as if they were full of something sweet… attracting and inviting... Without any more thoughts, I leaned towards her and kissed her.

Then suddenly I felt glares. I saw in the corner of my eye, Harry, Ron and Hermione staring. Damn it.

I jerked my head back instantly. Arlene opened her eyes and looked at me, confused.

"I-I am sorry." I said, still trying to look at Harry from the corner of my eyes to see if they were still looking. Arlene noticed and followed my gaze.

"You don't want them to know, do you?" she asked.

"……"

"Tell me." She demanded, staring into my eyes. I tried to avoid her glare but I couldn't.

"No…" I lied. "I just don't think I am really ready for this kind of thing yet… you know, I don't really know you that well…" I mumbled.

She sighed. "Well, I guess you're right." She said, shifting a little bit further away from me.

"I am so sorry."

"It's fine, I know how you feel. We have still got time together, and you and I can know each other better…" she smiled.

I gave a relieved sigh, and saw Harry, Ron and Hermione turned their heads away from me.

* * *

**[NOT IN DARREN'S POV]**

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the great hall having their lunch.

"I still can't believe Darren is actually a vampire." Ron muttered as he ate.

"Shh!" Hermione hushed him. "Don't say that out loud! We are not allowed to tell anymore, remember?"

"I don't bloody care! I think everyone has the right to know the fact that he is a vamp…" Ron exclaimed but Hermione stopped him by putting her hand over his mouth.

"Enough!" She snapped. Then her facial expression changed from serious to disgust. "EWWWWWW!!!!! You hand licker!" she yelled as she pulled her hand away from Ron's mouth, wiping his saliva on the table.

Ron giggled. "Wow…that works... I will do that from now on if you put your hand over my mouth again." Hermione gave him a death glare.

"You know Darren," Harry suddenly said, making Ron and Hermione turn to him. "He's not as evil as he seemed… I mean, he had never hurt us or anything… I felt guilty leaving him alone… and, you know, we don't really know anything about vampires, do we? They might not be what it said in our textbook, right? "

After Harry spoke, Hermione and Ron went quiet.

"… I guess Harry is kind of right…" Hermione broke the silence. "Last night I actually saw tears in his eyes when he blurted out at us… I could tell, by looking in his eyes, that he treated us as friends…"

"Well I doubt that, Hermione. Look." Ron jerked his head towards his left. Harry and Hermione turned their heads in the same direction. They saw Darren sitting with Arlene, and they were…

_Kissing._

"I can't believe this." Hermione said, still staring.

"Now you guys know the truth about him! He fell out with us yesterday and he is now flirting with a girl, and bloody ki-kissing! I think he is quite glad to get away from us coz we won't disturb him anymore from girls! By the way I think he only cares about her blood!" Ron exclaimed.

"Guys I think he saw us. They stopped." Harry said.

"What a faker." Ron quipped. "Let's go. I don't want to see him anymore. And I have to warn Arlene about him."

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing outside Hagrid's hut, waiting for Hagrid to come.

"Oh where is he?" he said he would be here at 6 o'clock!" Ron grumbled.

"Be Patient Ron! It is just 10 minutes! Can't you put up with it?" Hermione snapped at his side.

"It is getting dark now and the Forbidden Forest is right next to us! There are monsters in there, MONSTERS!"Ron exclaimed, stretching out on the word 'monsters'.

"Oh don't be such a scary cat! Sometimes I wonder if you are just a girl dressed in a boy's clothes!" Hermione quipped. Ron's face gone red.

"It's ok Ron. The creatures won't hurt us unless we go in the forest. Hagrid is probably late for a reason. Maybe he had some work to do. I bet he will be here in any minute." Harry stated.

"He better be… I don't like it when it is dark in here, and it is freezing!" Ron shivered and crossed his arms in front of him, trying to get warmer.

They stood there, looking around for any signs of Hagrid. The only thing they didn't notice was, _something_, or even _someone_, was watching them with evil red eyes somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, waiting for a chance to _strike._

* * *

**[DARREN'S POV]**

Me and Arlene was heading towards the Great Hall for our evening meal. School was not that bad at all today. Arlene was accompanying me all day long. I started to feel a little 'something' for her…

Just as we were in front of the entrance of the castle, I saw Ron running towards me across the courtyard, face terrified.

"HE-HE-HELP!!!!" He ran over, grabbed my shoulders and started to shake me violently.

"Whoa! What's going on?" I asked as I held his arms, stopping him shaking me.

"Ha-Ha-Harry an-and He-Hermione…The-they're…" He was panting so badly that I couldn't hear a word he was saying, but I could tell that he was in shock.

"Calm down." I said, waiting for him to retrieve his breath. "Now tell me what happened, slowly."

"It… it kidnapped Hermione!!!!" he said, voice still shaky.

"_What_ kidnapped her?"

"I-I-I don't know!! It…or he! Pu-purple! All over him! And those horrible red eyes… he just appeared from nowhere and…and dragged her into the forest!" _Purple and red eyes. The vampaneze. They are in Hogwarts!_

"What about Harry? Where is he?" I asked, voice getting louder because of panic.

"He-he went after them and told me to get help!" _Shit. I have to go help them._

"Take me to the forest. _Now_."

Ron hesitated. "It-it is too dangerous to go by ourselves! Shouldn't we tell Dumbledore or anyone first?"

"We have no time! Harry and Hermione are in big danger!" I blurted out.

Ron stared at me for a second, and nodded slowly. "This way." He led the way and I followed.

"Darren? What's going on?" Arlene asked. _Oh God, I forgot about her._

I turned back and shouted. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall later! Please don't tell anyone about this!" Then I went, leaving her standing on the spot mouth half-opened.

* * *

I followed Ron to the entrance of the Forbidden Forest and we walked in. The forest got darker and foggier as we walked deeper in. The color of the trees and grass seemed to turn into a grey colour because of the mist covering them. Ron looked around worriedly. I presumed that he was scared.

"Darren…" He spoke suddenly.

"Yes?"

"Er…I just want to say…Thank you…and sorry."

"What for?"

"For coming to help… I thought you didn't care… I thought vampires are…"

"It is OK Ron." I cut him off, and smiled at him slightly. "I'm sorry for not telling you guys as well."

Then I looked around, looking out for any signs of Harry and Hermione, or the vampaneze. The forest was very foggy so we could only see a few metres in front of us.

"There is no way we are going to find them in here… and I think we are lost." I stated.

"Lost?" Ron's eyes widened. "Bloody Hell! I don't want to be stuck in here! Creatures will attack us!"

"I am sure we will be fine… I am a vampire, remember? I am stronger than humans…" I said but I stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"Shhhh…I think I heard something." It was a scuttling noise. I looked around, alerted. The noise grew a bit louder and I realized it came from behind us. I turned around and I saw what seemed like a large thin sheet of black (it looked like a blanket), covering the earth, appearing not far away from us. I couldn't see what exactly it was because of the mist.

"Wh-what is that?" Ron asked with his shaky voice.

"I have no idea." The noise grew louder and louder and the 'blanket' moved towards our direction in a quick speed. A few seconds later I could see what the 'blanket' really was. Spiders. Thousands…even millions of them, crawling towards us. Ron screamed.

"Run!" I shouted, dragging Ron, running in the opposite direction of the spiders. _Oh Jesus Christ! I know I like spiders but you don't have to give me millions of them!_

"I-I-I thought you could control sp-spiders!!!" Ron shouted as he ran along with me.

"Yeah but not with millions of them!"

"Bloody hell! Are you attracted to spiders or anything? Everything with you includes spiders!!! Spiders in DADA class, spiders in Hagrid's class, and spiders now…" he started to moan as he ran.

"Oh just shut up and keep running!" I got annoyed by him. "Save your breath for running instead of moaning at me!"

We ran as fast as we could for a few minutes. I could see Ron couldn't keep up with me anymore. _Shit._ The spiders were still chasing us. _This is weird. _It seemed that they were trying to lead us somewhere by chasing us in different directions. Then we saw a cave ahead of us. We stopped, wondering if we should go in or not. The spiders caught up and surrounded us in a semi-circle around the cave. Then they stopped.

"Looks like they want us to go in…" I said and looked at Ron. He didn't say anything because he was still panting from the run. He looked up at me, face in a horror expression and shook his head violently.

"N-N-NO!!! I-I remember he-here! I-it is wh-where A-A-Ara-Ara-go…" I was confused by what he said. Just as I wanted to ask him to repeat that again, the spiders which were surrounding us crawled closer, making the semi-circle smaller. They were getting impatient. Ron let out a cry and grabbed my arm.

"Look, Ron, we have two choices, either being eaten alive by these spiders or go in the cave." I said simply.

He looked at me in horror. "Is-is there a-a-a th-third choice?" He asked me shakily.

I rolled my eyes. Without answering him, I dragged him into the cave. The spiders followed. The cave was pitch black but I managed to see a little dot of light in front of us. So this was a tunnel, not a cave. The tunnel stunk and I could feel bats or something flying over our heads. Ron hadn't let go of my arm. I could feel him shaking. The dot of light grew bigger. I walked faster, still dragging Ron with me, and walked out from the end of the tunnel. Then I froze.

* * *

**Like the ending or not? I bet everyone has got an idea what Darren saw when he went out from the tunnel :)**

**Wow…this chapter took me absolute ageeeees to sort it out… and I am not so happy about it… please review to tell me if it is good or bad (might want to rewrite it if it's bad), but I don't mind flames! So please R&R! Thanks :)**

*****I have written an oneshot about Darren before I updated this chapter, anyone interested to take a look? (Called "Attractions")**


	8. Spiders!

**I am so so so so so so so so so sorry for not updating lately!!!! (down on my knees begging for forgiveness) I have just had my A-level exams... so busying revising so I don't have time to work on this story... Sorry again... :P But the exams were over now so I can get on with this now :) **

**Disclaimer: I love Darren Shan and Harry Potter but no matter how much I loved them, they are still not mine. How sad.**

**P.S: I have put some funny quotes on my profile page!!!!! Please go and take a look! Here is one:**

_**"I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellar."**_

**Hehe~ Be happy!! :):)**

* * *

**Spiders!**

_Oh. My. God._ I couldn't believe what I actually saw. I tried rubbing my eyes, just to make sure it wasn't my imagination or anything, but no matter how hard I rubbed, _it _was still there.

What lay at the end of the tunnel was, a spider. A _GIANT _one. It was about twice – maybe three times taller than me. It had four shiny green eyes on its huge head, its legs as thick as tree trucks, and they were covered in hair. _Never seen one like this before._ I stood still, unable to take my eyes off the creature.

"So, it's you again, the meal that escaped from us last time…" A deep voice rang out from nowhere. Ron cried out and fainted. I caught him with one arm, supporting him. _Why does he always black out for no reason? _

"Humans are such a weak species…" the voice rang out again. I looked around, trying to find signs of any humans but there wasn't any. Just spiders.

"You don't have to look. It is me who is talking." I realized the voice came from the spider. Yes. The spider. I tried pinching my cheek to see if I was dreaming or not, but it hurt.

"You…talk?" I dropped Ron on the ground because of my shock. He moaned but didn't wake up.

"Indeed I do."

"What do you want from us?" I asked warily.

"Now that's a good question." Its voice gave me the shivers. I had a bad feeling of this. "Just like humans, we have to eat in order to survive as well. Delicious young boys like you… can be such a delightful meal for us…" My eyes widened, and cold sweat was trickling down my skin. "But…" he leaned forward staring at me with his big shiny eyes. They seemed to flicker with green light. "I could tell, in a way, that you are not exactly a human. _What _are you?"

_Should I tell him? Guess I have no point hiding it... _"A vampire…" I said, trying my best to keep my voice calm.

"A vampire?" It asked curiously.

"Only half..." I added.

"I have never seen one before… so, why have you come here?" _Looks like he has an interest in me. _An idea popped up in my head. _May be, I can talk the spider into letting us go._

"I am here to help the creatures living in this forest, like you." I lied.

"Why? What do we need help for?"

"You see, there is another type of vampires called vampaneze. They are the enemies of our kind. They have planned to attack Hogwarts, and also this forest. "

"You mean, they are going to attack us as well? Why would they want to do that?"

"They want to have this place for a base to them, they are selfish creatures so they want to kill every living thing that's not their species." I said, looking at him with the most innocent look I could manage. "Believe me. I'm here to help."

"Help? What can a small _thing_ like you do?" He moved back a little, sounding surprised.

I frowned._ Thing? _"I might look like a child, but in fact I am much more. I am a prince of the vampires, I came here to keep check on the vampaneze. I saw one of them running into the forest and I followed him here." I took a breath, calmed my voice and let it out confidently. "Can you let me get on with that?"

It mused. Then it began after a few seconds. "Because of that reason, and for my own benefit, I will let you go." _Wow, that works! He actually believes me!_ I tittered, but tried my best to hide it. "But, you have to leave the other boy with me."

My heart froze. _I am not leaving Ron here with the spider. He will probably scream or cry to death before the spider laid its hairy legs on him._ I gave a definite answer without hesitating. "NO."

"You are a vampire but he is not. He is only a human. Why do you have to help him?"

"Well…" my mind was racing, trying to think of an answer. "Er… you see, the vampaneze are new to magic so I need him here, just to assist me hunting them down. He is excellent in magic." _This will be quite a good answer, although I doubt that Ron is good at magic. _"Look, if you let us go, we kill the vampaneze and you can have them for a meal instead. Two skinny children for a meal and end up getting killed by the vamoaneze, or have you can have some fat, juicy vampaneze for a meal instead? The choice is quite simple." I swallowed hard. I had no idea how many vampaneze were in the forest and I might end up being killed instead of killing them, but at least I could escape for now. _I should have found Dumbledore or Mr. Crepsley first before I came here._

It mused again and said, "Well, I guess I should let you two go… _but_ if I find out that you lied to me, I _will _find you, no matter where you hide."

"You have my word." I found that my palms were full of sweat. I must have had my fist's clenched for quite a long time. The spiders that surrounded us cleared a path in the tunnel for us to leave. I looked at Ron, who was still unconscious. I kneeled down and padded him lightly on his cheek, trying to wake him up. He opened his eyes slowly.

"Oh morning Darren… is it the time for school? It's still dark…" I rolled my eyes. _He has been unconscious for the whole time when I am trying my best to get us out of here. I should have left him here with the spider. _"Come on, let's get going, unless you'd rather get eaten alive by the spiders."

"Di-did you just say spiders?" He said as he looked around. He saw the pack of spiders and started to faint again. I slapped him across his face, trying to keep him awake.

"There is no time to faint! Come on!" I jerked him up onto his feet, and dragged him towards the tunnel's entrance.

"Wait." The giant spider said suddenly. _Shit. Has he changed his mind?_

"Yes?" I said, turning back to face it again. I thought of running away, but we won't stand a chance against the pack of spiders.

"May I ask what your name is?"

I sighed. _Good. He hasn't changed his mind._ "Darren." I replied. "Yours?" _I don't know if it has a name or not but it seemed polite to ask._

"Aragog." _Wow, what a cool name._ "Farewell, boy, and don't forget what you promised me."

"No I won't forget. Nice to meet you." _And I hope I will never see you again._ I said as I headed towards the tunnel's entrance again with Ron. As we walked through the tunnel, Ron started the usual 'Question Time'.

"What did you done? Aragog treats everyone as food except Hagrid! Is that one of your vampire powers again? Or did you control him or something? What have you promised him?"

_Will he ever shut his mouth? _I was getting annoyed with him. "I told you I have a way with spiders."

"But how–"

"I will tell you later." I cut him off. "What we need to do now is find Harry and Hermione."

We kept walking in the forest and suddenly a scream rang out. We followed the scream. It came from behind a pack of high bushes. I ran through them and I saw Harry. He was sitting on the ground, and a vampaneze was about to stab him with a dagger.

"NOOOO!!!" I roared, sprinting towards the vampaneze.

* * *

**[Harry's POV] **

_I am going to die._

The horrible, horrible purple monster was standing in front of me, and was about to bring his dagger down to me. I was unarmed, sitting helpless on the ground. I shut my eyes, waiting for the moment to come. Then someone shouted.

I opened my eyes slowly again, finding that the monster had disappeared in front of me. _Where did it go?_ I looked around, and found him rolling around on the ground with another person. _Darren._ They were fighting, trying to get on top of one another. After a few twists and turns, Darren was sitting on top of the monster again, with the monster's dagger in his hand. I couldn't believe what I saw next. Without any hesitation, he held up the dagger, and drove it down into the monster's heart. The monster stopped struggling a few seconds after, and died. Blood was spurting out from the wound and Darren was covered in it. I looked at him. He was so calm... and his eyes were blank. But, deep inside, I could see sadness... and guilt.

* * *

**[Darren's POV]**

I looked at the vampaneze under me. Blood was all over me. My face, my shirt, my hands. The vampaneze had left a long deep cut on my left arm, but I ignored the pain. I felt Harry's glare but I didn't dare to look at him. I wished the ground could open up and sallow me.

"Watch out!" a voice cried out and immediately after the shout, something went in contact of my side before I could react. I went flying across the ground, slamming my back on one of the tree trucks. Wind was forced out from my lungs. Dizziness filled up my head. I lay still on the ground, coughing violently. Before I could retrieve, a strong hand grabbed me by my throat and lifted me off the ground. It was a vampaneze. _Damn. I should have notice before._ He slammed me against the tree truck. I let out a scream of pain. I kicked out, hoping to connect with a vulnerable part of him, but there didn't seem to be one. I was suspended several feet above the ground and finding it hard to breath. I struggled to stay conscious, but black clouded my vision. _Was this the end of me?_

Suddenly, the vampaneze loosened his grip and dropped me. I hit the ground harshly, coughing violently again. I looked up at the vampaneze. He was standing still, arms hanging freely at his side. A sword was sticking out from his stomach. Someone had stabbed him from behind. His eyes were staring down at the sword with disbelief. Blood was gushing out from his mouth and the wound. The sword was pulled out from the vampaneze. He fell down heavily in front of me. I could now see who was holding the sword.

* * *

**Thanks for reading... Please R&R!! :):) And guess who stabbed the vampaneze!**


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